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Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy is trying to get players paid, and although athletes can make a comfortable living in college now, he's actually thinking more about when his guys can really get rich. And that also means a massive payoff for the Sooners.
Nagy made his rounds at SEC Media Days on Monday, including a sit down with On3's J.D. PicKell, who asked about not only scouting great players, but people who also fit into the culture Brent Venables has created in Norman. Nagy made the point that the Sooners are looking for players who are thinking about careers beyond college because they have both the talent and willingness to develop.
Read more: Oklahoma already rewarding Jim Nagy with handsome payday after quickly proving his value
"You just gotta find guys that are about the right stuff," Nagy told PicKell. "The money part (for NIL), we're gonna be competitive, but they gotta buy into what we're about, and that's the culture and the brotherhood and being developed and understanding guys that we recruit to Oklahoma should have NFL futures if they come in, if they put in the work, they allow themselves to be developed.
"Sunday money is always going to trump Saturday money. If that's the end goal is to play in the National Football League, I don't expect a guy to take half as much money to come to OU than another school, but if you see the big picture and you feel like if you're in the building and you love the coaches and you see the development and the track record of what Coach Venables has put in the league, there needs to be value in that."
Brent Venables has proven track record of producing NFL talent that Jim Nagy can sell
There's proof to what Nagy is trying to sell to recruits.
Oklahoma just had seven players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, which was the most for the Sooners since the same total in 2022. It was also the fourth-most drafted players among the 16 SEC programs as the conference broke a record for most selections in a single draft.
Most importantly to Nagy's point, of the seven drafted players, four spent their entire careers with the Sooners, which is extremely rare in college football today. That included edge rusher R Mason Thomas (2nd round to Kansas City Chiefs), defensive tackle Gracen Halton (4th round to San Francisco 49ers), safety Robert Spears-Jennings (7th round to Pittsburgh Steelers) and converted linebacker to tight end Jaren Kanak (7th round to Tennessee Titans). It's also worth noting all came up through Venables' defensive system before Kanak switched sides his senior season.
That was Nagy's first draft class since joining OU last February. The number of selections should grow in 2027 thanks to even more homegrown talent that have been Sooners their entire careers. It's been a storyline this offseason that the Sooners' entire starting defense in 2026 could be players who have been at Oklahoma since the beginning of their college careers. It should be the only unit in all of college football built that way.
This is a double whammy for the Sooners. Nagy is looking for players who can play in the NFL one day, which means the best talent available suiting up in crimson and cream. But since he's also assuring he's bringing in guys who will stick around, the Sooners won't just have exceptional talent on their roster, but have those players at their best as many programs develop players only to see someone else reap the full benefits.
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This article was originally published on stormininnorman.com as Jim Nagy makes it clear playing for Oklahoma is a long-term investment.
